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Rights promotion

Autism-Europe advocates for the rights of autistic people in the European Union. To do so, we advocate for the mainstreaming of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities into all relevant EU policies and legislation, and monitor its implementation. In doing this we place particular emphasis on raising awareness among decision-makers concerning the specific needs of autistic people. We also support our member organisations to advocate for better policies and legislation for autistic people at the national level.

The European Union is composed of several institutions, that each play a different role in making and enforcing laws, policies and budgets. Autism-Europe works to influence each of them in different ways.

To find out more about what each Institutions does, and how Autism-Europe operates in relation to them, simply click on the headers below:


As well as working with EU policies relevant to autistic persons and their families, Autism-Europe also takes a more global approach to advocating for autistic rights. One of our key areas of activity is to monitor, and push for the full implementation and respect of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Autism-Europe has established a structured dialogue with the European Institutions and is also active towards the World Health Organisation (WHO). We also enjoy a participative status (for non-governmental organisations) with the Council of Europe and in July 2002 lodged a collective complaint with the European Committee of Social Rights, becoming the first disability NGO to undertake such action.

Read the full-length explanation of Autism-Europe’s EU advocacy approach